Quadrant Lab, in collaboration with the ePaper Industry Alliance (EPIA) has launched the Quadrant.ePaper weekly bulletin, aiming to provide readers with insights on global industry innovations and the latest news on the ePaper industry and connecting the global IoT ecosystem.

01 a Phone, a Friend Introduces AI Concept Phone with an ePaper Display

Lithuanian startup company a Phone, a Friend Co. has introduced an AI concept phone with an ePaper display that can verbally report users' schedules, social media summaries, and news updates. The phone is slim and sleek in appearance. In addition to the conversational mode supported by AI technology, this AI concept phone can also switch to a regular usage environment with just one click, serving as an ePaper phone with a single camera and AI photo editing capabilities.

Currently, the company is developing the first app for this AI concept phone, allowing the phone to analyze user habits with AI technology and provide customized news, social media summaries, and more. This product provides a bold and interesting exploration direction for further iterations of phone products, but it also raises concerns about whether it can ultimately be mass-produced and enter the market.

02 E Ink States That Its Revenue Growth For This Year is Expected to Recover

On March 7th, E Ink stated that its revenue growth for this year is expected to recover as customers rapidly adopt new four-color ePaper technology for electronic shelf labels. E Ink Chairman Johnson Lee said that about 80% of customers plan to adopt the new four-color ePaper technology this year, compared to only 20% in October last year.

Last year, customers' adjustments to inventory of the previous generation three-color ePaper products slowed down their transition to the new four-color ePaper technology, impacting E Ink's revenue growth. Johnson Lee expects that customer inventory will return to healthy levels this quarter. E Ink has decided to restart the construction of its new factory in Guanyin District, Taoyuan this year and is expanding the capacity of its large ePaper display modules at its Yangzhou factory.

03 Minimal Phone Launches Crowdfunding on Indiegogo

Minimal Phone, which was previously introduced, has finally launched crowdfunding on the Indiegogo platform. The early bird price is $350, which is $50 lower than the expected $400, and it will be shipped in August this year. The latest configuration information provided by the official shows that the Minimal Phone features a high-refresh 300ppi black and white ePaper display, is powered by a MediaTek MT6769 processor, has a 4000mAh battery with a battery life of up to 4 days, supports wireless charging and 18W fast charging, and can charge up to 80% in 30 minutes.

04 AOC Releases “A+ Educational E Ink Tablet”

On March 5th, AOC listed an “A+ Educational E Ink Tablet” on JD.com. This eReader is equipped with a 10.1-inch black and white ePaper pressure-sensitive screen with a resolution of 1200x1600. It features a range of AI tutoring functions such as "AI intelligent analysis," "1-on-1 oral training," and "instant photo recognition," with an introductory price of 3299 yuan. AOC stated that this product was custom-made to meet the requirements of the education sector in China.

References：

https://www.designboom.com/technology/ai-smartphone-e-ink-display-a-phone-a-friend-03-01-2024/

https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2024/03/08/2003814596

https://www.techeblog.com/minimal-phone-launch-e-ink-smartphone-indiegogo/

https://goodereader.com/blog/tablet-slates/aoc-launches-educational-e-ink-tablet-in-china